spec-driven-dev

To prevent scope drift, enforce a formal spec before coding that captures Goals, Non-Goals, User Stories, API Contracts, Data Models, and Acceptance Criteria. This pre-implementation gate ensures all stakeholders align on requirements before development starts.

A software feature specification should include Goals, Non-Goals, User Stories, API Contracts, Data Models, Acceptance Criteria, and Implementation Tasks. It must also capture testable acceptance criteria and explicit Open Questions to ensure complete requirements coverage.

Create a reproducible feature planning workflow by locking requirements into a formal spec file before implementation. Using a standardized markdown document ensures your planning context survives chat tool switches and context resets.

The best way to structure acceptance criteria is to define them within a formal spec file as testable requirements before coding begins. This ensures implementation tasks directly map to verifiable outcomes and prevents ambiguous feature completion.

You need to define non-goals in a software development spec during the pre-implementation phase to explicitly document what the feature will not deliver. This prevents scope creep and aligns stakeholder expectations before coding starts.

Yes, spec-driven development works without external dependencies because it operates as a standalone workflow. It enforces a markdown-based spec file structure to guide feature planning and lock requirements independently of other tools.